The Laura Flanders Show

The average household holds over $100 thousand in debt. The climate crisis, threats to democracy, and global wars add more worry to our already stressful lives. Can we somehow flip this “ethic of insecurity” to re-envision our society and enable us to work collectively and care for each other? How can we lessen insecurity and expand security — both as individuals and as a society?

2023 marks the 75th anniversary of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. What does it mean to commemorate Human Rights Day in a time of genocide? Craig Mokhiber, a top U.N. official who resigned in October, joins Laura to discuss the path forward for peace with justice for Israelis and Palestinians. Plus a commentary from Laura on what it takes for us to recognize one another's humanity.

Last December, an attack on two electrical substations in Moore County, North Carolina left 45,000 households and businesses without power for up to five days. It was the biggest domestic terrorist attack on the electricity grid in the U.S. Did the sabotage attack have anything to do with LGBTQ harassment or the drag performance scheduled that night?

The Prison Creative Arts Project (PCAP) is an independent program of the University of Michigan that supports formerly incarcerated artists, facilitates creative arts workshops and even hosts an annual exhibition to showcase incarcerated artists’ work. “Making Art in Prison: Survival and Resistance” is a new book based on the project.

Over 450,000 workers have gone on strike in 2023. Many are celebrating this revival of labor power, but what does it mean for workers of color — often hardest hit — and least well treated even by traditional labor organizations? In this “Meet the BIPOC Press” episode co-produced by The Laura Flanders Show and URL Media, we explore the diversity of today’s unionized workforce and their demands.

This year, New York City has received over 100,000 asylum seekers, including 15,000 unaccompanied minors. Most are from Latin America, where they face extortion from gangs and LGBTQ+ persecution. Hear the harrowing journeys and hopes of refugees coming to NYC — and meet the growing network of volunteers and nonprofits working to give asylum seekers a welcome, shelter, and legal protection.

Climate change isn’t looming, it’s here. We have crossed what some call the change horizon. Can it also be a liberation horizon? “There’s beautiful resistance out there,” says Colette Pichon Battle. She is a Louisiana native and Co-founder of Taproot Earth, working in Appalachia, the global Black diaspora and across the world with a focus on climate migration and Global Climate Reparations.

After 11 years in the State Department’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs — the entity most responsible for arms transfers to allies and partners — Josh Paul quit October 18, over increased, “indeed expedited” arms sales to Israel. US double standards and hypocrisy when it comes to human rights crimes, he says, are dangerous for all concerned.

As the Israel/Hamas conflict continues, what is media’s role? Across the globe, reporting shapes political and cultural landscapes — and Sonali Kolhatkar, host of “YES! Presents: Rising Up With Sonali”, believes that done right, storytelling can affect policy and advance social justice. She lays out examples in her new book, “Rising Up: The Power of Narrative in Pursuing Racial Justice.”

In “Practicing New Worlds: Abolition and Emergent Strategies”, movement lawyer and organizer Andrea J. Ritchie has written a toolkit for organizers. Both visionary and practical, Ritchie believes we can live the “future” world we want in the present. How do we create the necessary conditions that foster collectivity and liberation leading to increased public safety and well-being?

In the film "Powerlands", director Ivey-Camille Manybeads Tso meets Indigenous communities across three continents to explore the global resistance against corporations such as Peabody Coal and BHP Petroleum. In this Indigenous Peoples’ Day special, learn how Indigenous resistance across national borders can beat back corporate assaults on nature and our climate.

Many people have never heard of the American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC – but for 50 years, the group has been the driving force behind some of the most extreme policies in this country. Guests Rep. Ro Khanna & Lisa Graves say ALEC and its wealthy pool of funders are a real threat, but there are ways to take action and progress has already been made.